The 29-year-old M-1 Global
champion will make his organizational debut against Rob Lisita in
the One
FC 21 “Roar of Tigers” headliner on Oct. 17 at Putra Indoor
Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The event will air via online
pay-per-view in North America.

Gafurov agreed to terms with One Fighting Championship in January.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt has won all nine of his fights,
executing six finishes, and holds a June 2012 split decision over
current Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Mairbek
Taisumov. Gafurov last competed at M-1 Challenge 47 in April,
when he retained the M-1 Global featherweight crown by capturing a
unanimous verdict against Lee
Morrison at Orenburzhye Sport Hall in Orenburg, Russia. A
decisive result against Lisita would make Gafurov a prime candidate
to challenge Narantungalag’s tenuous reign at 145 pounds.

Lisita is no walk in the park. The 31-year-old Phuket Top Team
representative has rattled off seven victories in his past nine
outings. Lisita in December became the first man to ever submit
“Lion” Takeshi
Inoue, as he dismissed the two-time Shooto
champion with a second-round bulldog choke under the Rebel Fighting
Championship banner in Singapore. He last fought at One FC 18 in
July, when he succumbed to a second-round rear-naked choke from
Universal Reality Combat Championship titleholder Eric
Kelly.

The Gafurov-Lisita clash is but one under-the-radar matchup worth
monitoring during the month of October. Here are nine more:

Spawned by the Sakaguchi Dojo, Kobayashi has established himself as
one of Japan’s top prospects. The 25-year-old lightweight King of
Pancrase is
9-0-2 over his past 11 appearances and has secured 10 of his 15
career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. He
last fought at Pancrase 257 in March, when he put away Shooto
champion Kuniyoshi
Hironaka with a third-round punch and soccer kick. Kobayashi
suffered the only defeat of his career in 2010, losing a unanimous
decision to onetime One Fighting Championship titleholder Koji Oishi --
it was a loss he later avenged. A two-time Shooto champion, Inoue
has not tasted victory in more than three years but remains one of
the most prominent figures in Japanese MMA.

Bedorf will defend the
KSW heavyweight title for the first time. A decorated grappler
and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, the 31-year-old Pole will enter
the match on a four-fight winning streak. Bedorf, who owns a 6-2
mark inside the KSW promotion, captured the heavyweight crown at
“Clash of the Giants” in September 2013 with a second-round
technical knockout against 1996 Olympic gold medalist Pawel
Nastula but has not fought since. Gracie was a silver medalist
at the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World
Championships. The 36-year-old has rattled off five wins in his
past six outings, losing only to
American Top Team’s Derrick Mehman.

Once ranked in the top 10 at 205 pounds, Cane has resurfaced on the
regional stage in Brazil after losses to Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira, Cyrille
Diabate, Stanislav
Nedkov and Chris
Camozzi earned him his walking papers from the Ultimate
Fighting Championship. The 33-year-old heads into his latest bout
on the strength of back-to-back wins, including a November decision
over Fabio Silva.
Cane has delivered 11 of his 14 professional victories by knockout
or technical knockout. Zaneti, 35, has won seven of his last eight
fights and has never gone the distance in 11 career
appearances.

Two of the sport’s top middleweight prospects collide here with the
vacant
Resurrection Fighting Alliance championship on the line.
Collier has rebounded nicely from his only professional loss -- a
January 2012 submission against Kelvin
Tiller -- and has posted four straight wins, three of them
finishes. The 25-year-old No Excuses MMA rep last competed at a
Rumble Time Promotions event in May 2013, when he needed just 92
seconds to finish Quartus
Stitt with a guillotine choke. Checco, 29, has trained
previously with the
Chute Boxe and Gracie Humaita camps. He has stopped all seven
of his opponents inside two rounds.

A longtime student of Mark DellaGrotte at Team Sityodtong in
Boston, Johnston has surfaced as one of the feel-good stories on
the East Coast MMA scene. The soon-to-be 44-year-old made his
professional debut in 2011 and has turned away all six of his
opponents. Included among his victories are 40-, 50-, 86- and
100-second finishes. Johnston won the vacant CES MMA heavyweight
championship in March, when he stopped Josh
Hendricks with first-round punches. Bell, 35, serves as his
first title defense. The Bellator MMA alum will enter their scrap
on a two-fight losing streak.

Legacy Fighting Championship will play host to two of the
fastest-rising stars in the women’s strawweight division. Center
wrestled collegiately at the University of the Cumberlands in
Williamsburg, Ky., and now trains with the powerhouse
Jackson-Wink MMA camp in New Mexico. The 27-year-old has not
competed since Invicta Fighting Championships 6 in July 2013, when,
as a short-notice replacement, she dropped a unanimous decision to
Joanne
Calderwood -- the unbeaten Scot who was later chosen for Season
20 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” A six-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world
champion and 2013 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World
Championships gold medalist, Nicolini has hit the ground running in
MMA. The 32-year-old Brazilian has submitted each of first two
opponents with first-round armbars.

Now 41, Landi-Jons serves as one of the few remaining high-profile
links to MMA’s bareknuckle beginnings. The Brazilian started his
career in 1993, a little less than two months before the birth of
the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and has won 28 fights, 24 of
them finishes. Landi-Jons remains a threat even at an advanced age,
as he is 5-1 since suffering a career-threatening leg injury at a
TKO Major League MMA event in 2008. Victories over Alexander
Shlemenko (twice), Jorge Patino
(twice), Evangelista
Santos and UFC hall of famers Matt Hughes
and Pat
Miletich highlight his lengthy resume. Mahteenko took a
unanimous decision from Landi-Jons at an Abu Dhabi Warriors event
in November 2012, the victory providing the centerpiece for the
Czech’s current three-fight winning streak.

Widely regarded as the top flyweight in Canada, the unbeaten Gordon
returns to the Provincial Fighting Championships organization with
a perfect 5-0 record in tow. The 24-year-old last fought at
Bellator 119 in May, when, on short notice, he took a unanimous
decision from Chris
Kelades -- the same Kelades who recently joined the ranks of
the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gordon had finished his four
previous opponents. He operates out of the Adrenaline Training
Centre in London, Ontario, where he trains alongside “The Ultimate
Fighter Nations” winner Chad
Laprise. Turner has posted wins in five of his past six
appearances.

A former two-division Deep champion,
Imanari has grown inconsistent late in his career -- he is 5-5 in
his last 10 bouts -- but remains a threat to virtually anyone on
the ground. The 38-year-old Japanese submission specialist snapped
a two-fight losing streak at Deep 68 in August, when he needed just
22 seconds to dispatch Chan Jung
Park with a heel hook. Hirota was cut loose by Zuffa in 2013
following an unsuccessful three-fight stint in Strikeforce
and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has been finished just
once -- Shinya
Aoki’s New Year’s Eve hammerlock was the culprit -- in 23
professional outings.